This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Orienting Objects in Space

You’ve already seen how you can move, reshape, and resize elements on your document layout. In this section, you’ll use various
features that adjust the orientation of objects on the page and in relationship to each other. To begin, you’ll adjust the inset between text and the frame that contains it. Then you’ll work with rotation techniques
and alignment of selected objects.

Adjusting Text Inset within a Frame

Your next task is to finish up the pull quote items by fitting the text nicely into the star frame. By adjusting the inset
between the frame and the text, you make it easier to read.

Click to select the Selection tool () in the toolbox, and then select the star with the pull-quote text.

NOTE

Do not try to use a keyboard shortcut to switch to another tool when the text tool is active, especially if you have text selected or an insertion
point placed in a block of text. Doing so would enter text, so the action would not change the tool selection.

Choose Object > Text Frame Options to open the Text Frame Options dialog box. If necessary, drag the dialog box aside so that you can still see the star as you set options.

In the dialog box, make sure that the Preview option is selected. Then, under Inset Spacing, change the Inset value to shrink
the text area until it fits nicely in the frame. (The sample uses 0p4.) Then click OK to close the dialog box.

Aligning Multiple Objects

Now that the two four-pointed stars are set at a 45° angle from each other, you can position one on top of the other so that
all eight points radiate from the same center-point position. Precise alignment is easiest when you use the Align palette.

Using the Selection tool (), select the yellow star and then hold down Shift and click the gray star so that both four-pointed stars are selected.

Choose Window > Align to open the Align palette.

In the Align palette, select the Align Horizontal Centers button (). The two stars are now lined up exactly side by side.

Again, in the Align palette, click the Align Vertical Centers button (). The two stars are now centered on the same location in the layout.

Rotating an image within its frame

You can rotate both the frame and contents in one action by selecting the object with the Selection tool and then dragging
one of the handles with the Rotation tool (). However, sometimes you just want to set the image at a jaunty angle. That process is just a slight variation on the procedure.

When you rotated the yellow star, you used the Transform palette to set a precise rotation angle. In this procedure, you’ll
use the rotation tool to rotate the graphic freely.

If necessary, press V to switch to the Selection tool, and then position the pointer over the origami box image in the star on page 5 and then click.

In the Transform palette, make sure that the center proxy icon () is selected.

Press R to select the Rotation tool ().

Move the pointer over the corner handle, so that it appears as crosshairs ().

Move the pointer over one of the corner handles and hold down the mouse button and then drag handles counterclockwise to rotate
both the image and the frame, stopping when you like the look of the results. The sample uses a rotation of 25°.